


A Mother's Love

by RedheadedBlondeBitxh



Category: Fallout 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedheadedBlondeBitxh/pseuds/RedheadedBlondeBitxh
Summary: S9-23 shares some insights about Father's mother.Shaun finds some revelations of his own.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	A Mother's Love

Shaun was typing away enthusiastically on the terminal in his office, eager to complete the most recent memo and get it distributed to the department heads before their board meeting at the end of the week.

“Father, do you have a moment?” The young voice asked from the doorway, the child synth peaking nervously around the corner.

“Of course. What is it S9?” He answered quickly, accommodating the nickname the synth seemed more than pleased to adopt as of late.

“Was that lady really your mom?” S9 asked, moving to sit on the floor next to his desk.

Shaun paused, unsure of how to answer the question, considering how vocally Nora had responded upon seeing the child synth. As he predicted, she was exceedingly distraught at the sight, and as good of an experiment it was, he couldn’t shake the sudden wave of shame rolling through him at her apparent distress. Immediately when he’d entered the room, calling out S9’s recall code, Nora had looked up at him in anger, her eyes immediately going wide as she met his own.

“Yes, she is.” He finally answered, turning to look at the young synth with sad frown.

“Oh... I know I don’t have a mom, but she seemed really nice. She helped me with my equations from Doctor Li.” S9 stated with a heavy sigh, picking at the carpet fibers nervously.

Shaun raised his eyebrow briefly at the revelation of the exchange, which he had regrettably missed during her visit in all the bustle regarding their looming power crisis. “She did? What equations were you working on?”

“Well I had physics and geometry. She said she didn’t like geometry because it was stupid to measure shapes, but she helped with the physics homework.” S9 looked up nervously at Shaun before looking back to the ground. “None of the other kids will play with me, but she said it was okay, because they're probably just jealous that they aren’t as smart as me.”

“She said that?” Shaun asked, unable to fight the amused smirk from teasing his lips at the maternal nature of Nora’s comment to the child.

S9 looked up, beaming with pride. “She said I was super smart for being only ten, and that back when she was a kid that she would still be doing regular multiplication in school.”

“Well she is correct in that your intelligence is far more advanced than that of your peers... “ He confirmed, frowning at the knowledge that S9 apparently felt isolated from the other children at the Institute. It was something Shaun could relate too, having been subjected to a multitude of scientific experiments and ostracized by the other children as a result. “Doesn’t Mr Binet spend time with you as well?”

“Sometimes, but it’s not the same... I don’t know. Do you think your mom is going to come back soon?” S9 looked up at him hopefully. “She looked really sad right before she left.”

“I’m not sure... I’m hopeful that she will visit soon, but I can't say for certain.” At the words S9’s face fell and he looked back down at the carpet with a sigh.

In all honesty, Shaun had his own significant reservations about where and who she had been aligning her priorities. By all reports, Nora seemed to be a significant member of the Brotherhood of Steel as well as the General of the Minutemen. With her loyalties spread between the two armies, he truly didn’t know if she would ever return.

“I just really liked her...” S9 muttered sadly, moving to stand. “I guess I should probably get back to my room now, huh?”

“Would you... like to stay for a bit?” Shaun offered, surprised by the words which seemed to slip out without any forethought. S9 looked at him, his eyes wide as he nodded eagerly. “Very well. Take a seat at the table, I believe I have a box of Fancy Lads around here.”

“Doctor Swinton says I’m not allowed to eat those... She said synths get really sick if they do.” S9 worried, taking a seat at the table with a frown.

Shaun let out a brief scoff, shaking his head. “It would appear that many of the synths are quite fond of the snack, but they certainly will not make you ill.”

Ever since the young doctor had discovered that synths actually could gain weight, and they simply hadn’t in the past because they only ate what they were given to maintain their daily needs, the snack cakes had been explicitly banned for synth consumption so as not to cause any significant financial concerns about resizing their uniforms.

Shaun quickly retrieved the box from the drawer in his desk, setting it down in front of an eager S9 and taking the seat across from him.

“Thank you Father!”

“Of course S9. So tell me, what's the status of the latest project you’re working on behind Doctor Li’s back?” Shaun prodded, watching the young synth eagerly dig into the box.

S9’s eyes went wide at the question, going suddenly still, his mouth still full of the desert as he answered. “It’s only a camera this time, I swear!”

Shaun smiled, taking one of the cakes himself with a faint nod. “How far have you got in the process?”

S9 looked up at him with a broad smile before launching into a monologue on the various pieces he was working on and still needed to repair on the old polaroid camera. The young child’s enthusiasm was infectious and Shaun wouldn’t help the abrupt warmth in his chest at S9’s joy for repairing antiquated technology.

Shaun thought, that just maybe, he could understand a small fraction of what Nora had felt for him when he was still a child, and precisely why she would tear clear across the Commonwealth just to find him.


End file.
